Square Australian 1921 penny pattern highlights Heritage sale

World Coins On the Block column from the Sept. 1, 2014, issue of Coin World

Though this is one of the most common of the 1921 Kookaburra penny patterns, this example is the finest graded, designated Specimen 65 by Professional Coin Grading Service. Prongs from the grading service holder are slightly visible in this image.

Decades before the kookaburra debuted on Australia’s 1-ounce silver coin, the laughing bird was selected for the reverse of new halfpenny and penny coins.

Though dozens of samples of various designs were issued for examination by authorities, the square-shaped coin was rejected for general circulation for several reasons. One of most common of those patterns, designated Renniks Type 12 by collectors, highlights Heritage Auctions’ Sept. 3 to 5 Long Beach World & Ancient Coins Signature Auction.

PCGS designated the coin Specimen 65, and the auction house describes the coin as “fully lustrous” and exhibiting “superb eye appeal” despite a few minor marks.

Matching its condition is the provenance, which traces to the collection of the late deputy master of the Melbourne Mint from 1921 to 1925, Albert Malet Le Souef. The original Spink envelope, from when the coin was sold in 1944, accompanies the coin.

Le Souef was the top man at the mint for the final year of the penny and halfpenny pattern saga.

Beginning in 1919 and continuing to 1921, several hundred halfpenny and penny patterns were struck, featuring 23 different minor types or subtypes, with 21 of those types found among the pennies. All but three pattern types were struck in a copper-nickel alloy, with the remainder being of a nickel-silver alloy. The example in this sale is made of copper-nickel.

Variations in the length of the branch, the size of the kookaburra and the placement of the denomination legend distinguish the 23 subtypes.

The patterns were meant to test whether the Australian government could replace large bronze halfpennies and pennies with smaller, lighter examples.

Patterns were distributed to Treasury officials, members of Parliament and others to gauge their reaction.

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Though this is one of the most common of the 1921 Kookaburra penny patterns, this example is the finest graded, designated Specimen 65 by Professional Coin Grading Service. Prongs from the grading service holder are slightly visible in this image.

The original envelope from Spink’s 1944 sale of the coin accompanies the pattern.

The square penny would have replaced the larger, round bronze coins then in circulation, like this example from the same year as the pattern, 1921.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.

The Commission of Fine Artsâ recommendation for the Proof 2014 American Eagle platinum coin, left, brought outrage and derision at the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee meeting. The CCAC recommended the design to the right.